GE Vahanvati new Attorney General

NEW DELHI: Senior advocate and former Solicitor General Goolam E Vahanvati was on Monday named the new Attorney General of India. Mr Vahanvati will serve as the country���s top law officer for a period of three years. An eminent lawyer with a successful career of 37 years, he is also the first Muslim to hold the key post.

Mr Vahanvati���s elevation finally puts to rest days of speculation as to who shall head the team of top-line law officers of the country, tasked with advising the new government on key legal and constitutional matters.
Meanwhile, former additional solicitor general Gopal Subramanian is set to be elevated to the post of Solicitor General, the country���s second most important law officer.

Mr Vahanvati succeeds Milon Banerjee, who had held the Attorney General���s post in the last government. He and all other law officers had put in their papers on May 29 to make way for a fresh team.

Incidentally, Mr Vahanvati and Mr Subramanian had, as Solicitor-General and Additional Solicitor General, respectively, in the previous government, handled most of the advocacy work of the Centre, given Mr Banerjee���s reluctance to appear in even the most crucial cases.

Among the key legal matters handled by Mr Vahanvati were the case regarding the constitutional validity of 27% quota in central educational institutions. The Supreme Court had upheld the quota last year.

Mr Vahanvati was the advocate general of Maharashtra government before he was appointed Solicitor General of India in 2004. He completed his five-year term as the country���s second most important law officer in May 2009.